Home to the finest weavers

Welcome one and all to column number 950 in my series of old pictures of life in Pendle.

And here in celebration of another landmark for this column is one of my favourite pictures of the Colne of yesteryear.

Captured by the classic cameraman Charles Green, the photograph was taken on a timeless, sunny June day in 1948. It features the historic Bells Yard, which housed some of the area’s very last handloom weavers’ cottages of all.

The three ladies having a nice natter in the sun are, left to right, Jessie Jefferson, Lizzie Shuttleworth and Ida May Worsick.

All three of them are fondly remembered in Colne.

Bells Yard was truly a step back in time.

The 28 ancient stone steps led up to the handloom weavers’ workrooms, which over countless decades produced the finest hand-woven cloth.

On the evening of Sunday, June 14th, 1959, two bull- dozers were parked in St John’s Street outside Bells Yard.

Within just 48 hours the cottages had gone forever and with it another slice of historic Colne.